Throughout April 2012 are two fabulous Washington DC film festivals with animated international offerings for kids. Filmfest DC: The Washington, DC International Film Festival has a film for kids with two April weekend showings, and Kids World Cinema 2012 showcases animation for kids from around the world at various screenings at throughout DC April 20-28.

FilmFestDC

Eleanor’s Secret – from France, shown in English

A family-friendly offering at Filmfest DC: The Washington, DC International Film Festival

Saturday April 14 2:30 PM  Goethe-Institut Washington 812 7th St., NW (Gallery Place/Chinatown) $5.00   Buy Tickets

Saturday April 21 2:30 PM Goethe-Institut Washington 812 7th St., NW (Gallery Place/Chinatown) $5.00   Buy Tickets

“Academy-Award–nominated director Dominique Monféry celebrates the joy of reading in his sumptuously animated movie about a magic library where all the characters from classic children’s books come alive.  With the help of Alice in Wonderland, Peter Pan, and others, [protagonist child] Nat…learns to read an ancient spell to keep the characters alive for future generations of children. Eleanor’s Secret will win the hearts children and adults alike.” —Seattle International Film Festival

See the trailer for Eleanor’s Secret

If these films are too international and art house-y for your tastes, A Parent in Silver Spring also gives out free passes to mainstream films from Pixar, Disney and more!

All film pass giveaways are handled on the A Parent in Silver Spring Facebook page, so Like the page here and receive posts about free film screenings throughout the DC area!

Kids World Cinema Festival 2012

International animated short film festival for children hosted by Alliance Française de Washington

Friday, April 20 at 6 PM Alliance Francaise, 2142 Wyoming Avenue, NW Free with registration  by calling 202-234-7911 or registering online

This showcase of international children’s films, which is now in its fourth year, invites Washingtonians to compare the ways in which different cultures approach this compact, yet powerful genre, as well as introduce young audiences to the discovery of foreign cinema. On April 20, the Alliance Française and the Embassy of Senegal present the following film collection tailored to children aged 6-8:

• Frère Benoit (Brother Benoit) (8 min, no dialogue) – Brother Benoit is in charge of the cleaning service in an abbey.
• Train-Train Medina (7 min, no dialogue) — People start stealing sand from the beach to build their houses with and things start to get messy in the Medina. Living in common disrespect for nature and for each other brings about a time of misery.
• Gom (7 min, French with English subtitles) — An awkward rubber boy is unexpectedly enlisted to replace a circus performer’s assistant.
• Le Têtu fainéant (The Lazy Jackal) (4min, English ) — The dog-like Jackal does not want to go to school with the other animals on the savannah.
• Rumeurs (Rumors) (7min 30sec, no dialogue) — In the silenceof the jungle, an unusual noise scares the animals, causing them to feed off each other’s panic.
• OZO  (7min 30sec) — A monkey named Ozo chases the bird that stole his egg.

Animation for Children from Japan and Mexico Organized by the Mexican Cultural Institute and the Japan Information and Cultural Center

Saturday Apr. 21  at 2pm at the Mexican Cultural Institute, 2829 16th Street NW, Free, register by e-mailing RSVP@instituteofmexicodc.org

Various films in Japanese with English subtitles, Spanish with English subtitles, no dialogue or dubbing in English.  Full line-up.

Animation for Children from Korea and Spain Organized by the Korean Cultural Center and the Embassy of Spain

Sunday April 22 at 2:00pm, Spain and Korea at the Korean Cultural Center, 2370 Massachusetts Avenue NW Washington DC 2370 Massachusetts Avenue NW, Free, online registration required.

As part of Kids World Cinema 2012, the Korean Cultural Center is teaming up with the Embassy of Spain to present a collection of short Korean and Spanish films just for kids, followed by a group discussion and cultural activities. Children will learn about Korean and Spanish culture in a fun setting, and see how even though kids in other countries may not speak the same language, they are not so different. Children and parents of all backgrounds are welcome to participate. Intended for children age 6-10, but slightly younger or older children are also welcome.

In order to attend, a parent/guardian must RSVP for each child or group of children by completing this online registration form. One parent/guardian can RSVP for up to 4 children. Adults may accompany children during the event (a separate adult space will be available), or drop children off by 2pm and pick them up by 3:30pm. Children under age 6 cannot be dropped off and must be supervised by an attending adult. Adults who attend must be accompanied by at least one child.

Don’t forget to enter The Shakespeare Theatre Company family production giveaway — low entries, high chance of winning!

How about dinner and movie for your family of four…for free?

UPDATE: The winner is Maria! Have a great time!

Here on A Parent in Silver Spring you can win four tickets to a Family Lady and the Tramp screening plus a delicious Italian buffet dinner at Carmine’s in DC!

This event aimed at families will not only show the just-released-on-BluRay classic flick and provide piles of Carmine’s traditional red-sauce Italian food (eat spaghetti and meatballs just like Lady and her man, er, dog!), there will also be Disney Trivia, Lady and The Tramp swag, raffle items and lots of DVDs to give away.

But what is just as cool is that all of us can purchase tickets to this fun family-friendly night out, and the ticket proceeds benefit Fashion For Paws Runway show, the incredible fashion show fundraiser for the Washington Humane Society.

The Lady & The Tramp Spaghetti & Meatballs Shin Dig

Saturday March 24 from 3-6pm (I love this family friendly timing!)

at Carmine’s, 425 7th Street NW, Gallery Place Metro.

Tickets are $40 for 13 and older, $25 for kids 3-12, Free 0-2.

Additional raffle tickets for prizes are $5 each.

Proceeds benefit the Washington Humane Society’s  Fashion for Paws Runway Show on April 14, 2012 at the National Building Museum.

The Fashion for Paws® Runway Show [April 14th 2012 at the National Building Museum] is a high caliber, one of a kind campaign benefiting the Washington Humane Society. The evening includes a formal cocktail reception with several tiered experiences drawing an extraordinary crowd of fashion, animal and philanthropy lovers alike. Fashion for Paws supports key programs that not only touches 30,000 animal lives per year but nurture the Washington DC community. 

For a chance to win FOUR tickets (if your family is larger or you would like to bring friends, you can purchase additional tickets) to the Lady & the Tramp dinner event on Saturday March 24, leave a comment below!

You can also share this link on Twitter or Facebook for additional entries.

The winner will be randomly drawn from all forms of entry on Tuesday March 13. 

No compensation of any kind was received for this post. Thanks to Tommy McFly of the Tommy Show on 94.7 for suggesting this giveaway!

Thank you to everyone who has enjoyed the free movie screenings I have helped the movie studios promote, at absolutely no personal compensation, over the past three and a half years. I hope that you all still enjoy them and can easily obtain your tickets via the new giveaway format.

I am moving all movie free screening ticket giveaways to the A Parent in Silver Spring Facebook page and I will also be alerting readers via Twitter when I have passes available from movie promoters.

The reason? Website traffic to this blog has increased so much over the years (yay!) that as soon as I post, the tickets are gone (boo!).

I have also felt bad disappointing parents and children when treating these passes as elusive prizes here on the blog. Although it is always posted that these prescreening tickets never guarantee recipients a seat, I have received so many bummed out emails from folks who do not make it in, even though they had “won”.  You have to get in line superduper early for these screenings, and still, you might not grab a spot for your booty. These free screenings before a film is released are always overbooked, as the promoters need to fill every seat in those theaters to help create buzz about a film before opening weekend.

And thus, I feel terrible treating these screening passes as extra-special-giveaway prizes here on the blog. Sometimes these passes are printed in newspapers, sometimes your credit card company sends them to you in the mail. So I think it is a more honest “giveaway” if I just throw an online login code onto my Facebook page for the website.

Tonight I am posting 100 free tickets to The Lion King in 3D re-release on Saturday morning August 27 at the Regal Majestic Silver Spring. If you love these not-guaranteed free movie passes, please Like A Parent in Silver Spring on Facebook and follow me on Twitter to receive notice whenever I have passes to hand out.

Facebook promotions rules state that I must administer the contest from the lefthand navigation links, so head on over to the left side and then follow the directions to obtain your passes. Good luck!

All giveaways administered here on A Parent in Silver Spring.com from here on out will be for honest-to-goodness, real prizes in which if your name is randomly chosen, you for sure will receive those performance tickets, children’s toy, video game, cash prize, gift card, hotel stay, gift certificate, restaurant voucher, nanny service, jogging stroller, opera night, t-shirt, onesie, book, board game, box of chocolates, pizza, massage, facial, CD, yoga class, coffee maker, reusable shopping bag, lip gloss, body lotion, bra, panties, nursing cover, baby quilt, diaper bag, slippers, water bottles you attach to your wrist, personal training session, skateboard, teas, candles, gourd birdhouse, monster truck tickets, cookies, pretzels, single copy of a magazine*, beef jerky or personal body groomer.

*My very first giveaway item was my first month of blogging and it was an extra copy of Real Simple I received by accident.

**I really have given away all of those items at one time or another on this site over the years!

SHARK WEEK, that annual summer programming of shark-tacular documentaries and shows on Discovery Channel, begins on Sunday July 31. And since we’re all so lucky to live near Discovery headquarters, we’re invited to the local Shark Week kick-off party.

The celebration will include a free preview screening in downtown Silver Spring of the brand new show Great White Invasion. The one-hour special looks into why great white sharks are coming closer to shore, swimming among unsuspecting humans more than ever before.

(Maybe that’s a little heavy for the little ones, but your middle schoolers and teens will find fascinating! Besides, it doesn’t start until after the babes are down in bed – 8:30pm.)

Cool bonus: The Discovery shark lovers will be giving away goodies throughout the night, including Shark Week hats, shirts and DVDs.

Also on hand will be Chompie Jr., the Shark Week mascot, who will be swimming around the plaza taking pics with people, which you should immediately upload to Discovery’s Shark Week Photo Frenzy. Also, have you seen the hilarious videos in the Shark Week Video Frenzy?

What: FREE community screening of Great White Invasion, featured in Shark Week 2011
When: Friday, July 29at 8:30 PM
Where: Veterans Plaza at the Silver Spring Civic Building
What to Bring: Family, friends, lawn chairs & an appetite for jawesome entertainment

Additionally, local restaurants are getting into the Shark Week spirit next week and offering  these special restaurant deals!

• California Tortilla, all locations – “In celebration of the highly anticipated Shark Week on Discovery Channel, California Tortilla is having a special promotion featuring one of its signature items, fish tacos. Guests who purchase a fish taco on Thursday, July 28, will receive a free Discovery Channel Shark Week fin hat. Fish taco enthusiasts who return on Wednesday, August 3, wearing their distinguished Shark Week fin hat will receive a free taco with any California Tortilla purchase. These one-of-a-kind toppers are a necessity for the ultimate Shark Week viewing experience, which begins Sunday, July 31, at 9 p.m.on the Discovery Channel. Discovery Channel is giving away California Tortilla catering to 10 fans with top-rated pictures of how they celebrate in the Shark Week Photo Frenzy. California Tortilla will also award free burritos for a year to the customer who posts the best Shark Week fin hat picture to the California Tortilla Facebook page. ” – from the California Tortilla press release

• Lebanese Taverna Cafe in Silver Spring – Tuesday July 26, 2011, 11:30pm–7:00pm: Mention Shark Week at the Lebanese Taverna Cafe in Silver Spring and take a 15% bite off a SHARKwarma or Chicken SHARKwarma sandwich platter.

Disclosure: My husband works for Discovery.

UPDATE: All the passes are taken.

I have 70 passes to the Larry Crowne free advance screening on this Tuesday, June 28 at 7:30pm at AMC Mazza Gallerie in Chevy Chase.

Want a couple? Send the names in your party to apissgiveaways@gmail.com. You can give up to 4 names, first and last please. There will be an exclusive guest list at the door.  I’ll update here when all the passes are gone.

This looks cute! I like trailers that play Tom Petty.

Official Film Synopsis

When appealing everyman LARRY CROWNE (Tom Hanks) is inexplicably fired from his job as a big box store clerk, he realizes it’s time for some meaningful change in his life.  Deeply in debt and without direction, he returns to college where he befriends a group of scooter-riding students and eventually develops a real affection for his beautiful speech class instructor, MERCEDES TAINOT (Julia Roberts).

Charming and smart, LARRY CROWNE reminds us of life’s small surprises.  Sometimes clouds really do have a silver lining.  It’s also about the power of new beginnings like the time Larry Crowne, an ordinary man with a gentle heart, was forced to downsize his world…and ended up expanding his life.

Rated PG-13